What is the deal with South Lakes/Herndon HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

+1000 This is the best explanation I have seen of what average SAT scores mean. Not much. If you've got a smart kid they're going to do well whether you put them in a school with high average scores or low ones. Frankly, it seems like the parents who get worked up about these scores are probably afraid their kids won't do well on the SAT's anyway.

I know families at both schools, OP, and all are happy. If my choice was between those two and Langley, I would opt for South Lakes or Herndon any day. Langley's lack of diversity and Richie Rich student population are only part of the problems at that school.

I wonder, then, why certain schools (not South Lakes or Herndon) haven't managed to produce a single National Merit Semifinalist for several years running. Are parents of high-achieving kids just avoiding those schools altogether, or are the schools failing to bring out the best in their students? I don't know the answer, but the data makes me skeptical of those who blithely proclaim that the "smart kid" is going to do just as well in one school as another.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

I never understood the school zone in reston and wolftrap that are zoned for Langley and McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

I never understood the school zone in reston and wolftrap that are zoned for Langley and McLean.

And herndon. I would think these areas would be prime for redistricting

[Anonymous]

And herndon. I would think these areas would be prime for redistricting

all West Fairfax schools are overcrowded--but where would you redistrict them to? There is not any room nearby.

[Anonymous]

A "TH in Reston" could be $200k off Glade or $1mm next to the Town Center. And both houses go to South Lakes. That's what Reston, and in turn South Lakes is--a little bit of absolutely everything all together. Herndon likely has smaller extremes on the housing costs. Both are good quality schools where you can get fine placement for a motivated student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

I never understood the school zone in reston and wolftrap that are zoned for Langley and McLean.

And herndon. I would think these areas would be prime for redistricting

Where would you send them instead? FCPS seems to think Langley is the only high school in the northern part of the county that will have available seats in a few years, and that Herndon, South Lakes, Marshall, Madison and McLean will all be above-capacity, at least until it expands South Lakes to increase its capacity to 2750 students. (Personally, I wouldn't want my kids to attend a high school with that many students, but others might feel differently).

Most of the schools that are expected to have extra capacity in a few years are further south, like Lee, Edison and Hayfield, so FCPS would have to do a massive redistricting to fill those seats.

[Anonymous]

Thank Janie Strauss for overcrowding at South Lakes. Stu Gibson is gone. Janie and Kathy Smith are the m ost responsible still on the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can they wait that many years to build a new high school when so many are already overcrowded? They better build it by 2020.

Where exactly are they planning on building it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever you look at scores for an entire school, you are essentially looking at the overall average SES of the school. It is a fact that when taken as a composite, the SAT/SOL scores for Herndon and South Lakes are a little above average for the state. That is not a bad thing. But, OP, you are making a mistaken assumption that every kid scored "a little above average" --- not the case! There is a significant portion of kids who scored high and another portion that scored lower at each school. (That's what happens when you have higher cost housing in the same school zone as lower cost housing). This is not going to change with any boundary adjustment. There will always be a mix of housing (i.e. SES) at each school.

When you add the scores of the high-achieving kids to the scores of the low achieving kids together and divide --- yes-- it results in "average" scores for the school. This does not mean the teaching is lacking. It means there are a mix of kids at this school.... aka "diversity." It's not a bad thing.

Now, you look at a school like Langley or Oakton or McLean --- guess what? Not any low-income apartments in those schools. The type of housing dictates who can afford to live there and is a good predictor of the test scores. Little economic diversity (b/c almost all are high on the SES scale) -- the test scores are going to be pretty much the same too. Schools like Langley and McLean are starting with kids that have every advantage in the book (particularly parents with degrees who can afford enrichment and who can discuss bigger ideas at the dinner table). There are similar kids at Herndon and South Lakes -- but they are only a portion of the total student body and they do quite well on their tests.

Don't denigrate a school just because it has a mixed bag of students.

+1000 This is the best explanation I have seen of what average SAT scores mean. Not much. If you've got a smart kid they're going to do well whether you put them in a school with high average scores or low ones. Frankly, it seems like the parents who get worked up about these scores are probably afraid their kids won't do well on the SAT's anyway.

I know families at both schools, OP, and all are happy. If my choice was between those two and Langley, I would opt for South Lakes or Herndon any day. Langley's lack of diversity and Richie Rich student population are only part of the problems at that school.

Nice way to put down a school you know nothing about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can they wait that many years to build a new high school when so many are already overcrowded? They better build it by 2020.

Where exactly are they planning on building it?

That has not been identified, although the latest CIP suggests that construction will be completed at some point between 2020 and 2024. The CIP also refers to building an addition to South Lakes in 2017 and 2018 to increase that school's capacity to 2750 students.

[Anonymous]

You should buy quickly as you'll soon be priced out of Reston if you want a SF house. Prices are increasing rapidly due to Metro.

Also why fret so much over HS. It ALL evens out after college and you get a job. Unless your kid is Ivy League bound, he'll end up at a job where people went to DC public schools and some "mediocre" college. That's what I love about this area (I'm not native)- everyone's kid is special and every school that is not 100% white it affluent must suck. :0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should buy quickly as you'll soon be priced out of Reston if you want a SF house. Prices are increasing rapidly due to Metro.

Also why fret so much over HS. It ALL evens out after college and you get a job. Unless your kid is Ivy League bound, he'll end up at a job where people went to DC public schools and some "mediocre" college. That's what I love about this area (I'm not native)- everyone's kid is special and every school that is not 100% white it affluent must suck. :0

"Hurry and buy quick in Reston because in the long run nothing matters unless you went to Harvard."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

I never understood the school zone in reston and wolftrap that are zoned for Langley and McLean.

Part of the reason is that Langley and McLean are so close to each other and that Langley's boundary outside of the beltway is more sparsely populated than most of the other areas nearby. Personally, I think expanding Langley's boundary into the western side of Tyson's makes the most sense- since those students are closer to Langley than many current Langley students, it is a more densely populated area (busing would be easy), and it would add a tiny bit of diversity. If that isn't enough, I think having Franklin-Sherman cease being a split feeder and move entirely to Langley would be logical- so those student can stay together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I appreciate the different perspectives. I do want my son to have peers, and I want there to be some degree of healthy competition, and I would prefer some diversity over what Langely has. Funny, looking at the map I see kids being bused from way, way up in GF who live very much closer to Herndon HS. Gotta love these boundaries around here.

I never understood the school zone in reston and wolftrap that are zoned for Langley and McLean.

Part of the reason is that Langley and McLean are so close to each other and that Langley's boundary outside of the beltway is more sparsely populated than most of the other areas nearby. Personally, I think expanding Langley's boundary into the western side of Tyson's makes the most sense- since those students are closer to Langley than many current Langley students, it is a more densely populated area (busing would be easy), and it would add a tiny bit of diversity. If that isn't enough, I think having Franklin-Sherman cease being a split feeder and move entirely to Langley would be logical- so those student can stay together.

FCPS needs to come up with much better, more transparent projections to justify any shifts between Langley and McLean. Right now, it is claiming that Langley may be down to 1728 students in 2018, and that McLean may be up to 2553 students in 2019, without a change. Has Great Falls really become that undesirable, and have central McLean and West Falls Church really become that hot, to warrant those projections?

As I see it, the problem is that capital improvements in FCPS are such a massive, protracted undertaking that, by the time FCPS breaks ground on a renovation or expansion, the conditions on the ground may have changed. It's planning to add seats to Langley as part of the school's renovation, when it really ought to be adding capacity elsewhere in the county where more students reside.